


A Very Hunting Christmas

by nagi_schwarz



Series: Good Hunting [14]
Category: Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, Supernatural
Genre: M/M, Past Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-25
Packaged: 2018-09-11 23:46:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,846
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9044171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nagi_schwarz/pseuds/nagi_schwarz
Summary: Written for the comment_fic prompt: "Any, Any, The monsters are all missing / And the nightmares can't be found / And in their place there seems to be / Good feeling all around / Instead of screams, I swear / I can hear music in the air - (Danny Elfman)"Team Hunting celebrates Christmas.





	

John lay in his bed and stared at the ceiling. After everything that had happened this year, crashing his chopper, almost spending a lifetime in Leavenworth, seeing Gremlins, and being recruited to join a para-military black-ops monster hunting squad, he thought he’d be ready for anything, any surprise, any twist of fate that would make his life more interesting or horrifying or bizarre. Evan and Dean being a couple had come pretty well out of left field, and by some bizarre coincidence John had found out first. Liking Rodney hadn’t been a surprise at all. John had thought him attractive the first time they’d met, when John was in the brig in A-stan and feeling rather at his lowest (his lowest since his mother’s death and his divorce from Nancy), and that attraction had only grown. Rodney being stubborn about it really hadn’t been a surprise either. Rodney kissing John, after that awful encounter with a psychotic nurse and her Frankenweenie pal, had been a relief.

A video message from his two nieces, asking sweetly for _Uncle John to come home for Christmas_ had been far out of the realm of possibilities after the awkward email invitation from Dave for Thanksgiving. John had spent so many holidays on deployment because he had no spouse or kids or girlfriend, and the other, more homesick soldiers had people to go to; he could take the holiday shift, take one for the team. He’d never really thought of his brother’s house as home, but Dave and Kathy and the girls were family.

And they knew what John really did for his job. They’d experienced a slice of it firsthand, and finally, finally the barrier of secrecy was no longer holding him apart from the people in his life who were supposed to matter most (though the look on Dave and Kathy’s faces when Evan had presented them with the NDA paperwork posing as _War and Peace_ had made John think that his one chance at connection was going to be as fleeting as every other one since things had gone south with Nancy.)

So now John was lying in his old bed in his old room, staring at the ceiling, and feeling a bit - torn. Evan and Miko had helped him shop for age-appropriate gifts for Anna and Clara (and Miko had written some kind of online algorithm that helped him find the best deals on toys). Vala had helped him pick out a stylish gift for Kathy (a pair of earrings that were also protective charms). John had picked out a gift for Dave himself - a print and binding of the scan they’d made of Mom’s journal. Evan had turned a copy over to Daniel Jackson, who was apparently some kind of genius linguist in addition to all the other things he was, and Daniel was working on a translation. He figured he could have it ready by Dave’s birthday.

Christmas in Dave Sheppard’s home was both familiar and unsettling. Some of the traditions - singing carols around the piano (Kathy played) were held over from John and Dave’s childhood. Other traditions, like opening gifts on Christmas Eve, must have been from Kathy’s childhood (everyone received Christmas pajamas; John’s had Pilot Snoopy all over them - he suspected the girls had chosen them).

There had been midnight mass, and getting the girls to bed, and now John couldn’t sleep.

It was unreal. War didn’t magically halt at Christmas. Surely monsters didn’t stop at Christmas. But here John was, lying in his old bed, staring at his own ceiling, with his family on Christmas. He knew other soldiers would have killed for this chance, to be home with family. But it just felt - a bit wrong.

Sam and Dean had been invited to Christmas with Gwen and the rest of the Campbells, who were very excited to have more cousins in the fold and planning an even bigger reunion than at Thanksgiving. Rodney was spending Christmas in Canada with his niece and her family - she was being cared for by her paternal grandparents. Evan and Miko were in California with their respective families. They’d parted with promises to be safe and admonitions not to worry about Christmas for each other till after the official holiday.

Vala had chosen to spend Christmas alone at the Bunker. It didn’t mean much to her as a holiday, she said, and she had no family, and really, having the Bunker to herself for a week was going to be glorious.

John couldn’t help but feel bad, though. Vala was alone. And he still felt - unsettled, by this continued reunion with his long-estranged family. Also, he missed Rodney, but that wasn’t something he could tell Dave. Dave could hear all about the monsters John hunted, but not about how John was kind of desperately crushing on Rodney, how he lived for that ten minutes a day when they could sneak a phone call to each other.

Vala had usually tagged along to Christmas with Major Mitchell, Sam told John. But not this year.

So much had changed in a year, for all of them.

John sighed and shifted, closed his eyes.

And he heard - singing.

He opened his eyes.

Were the girls out of bed? They’d been exhausted after midnight mass, but little kids were notorious for getting up at crap o’clock in the morning to open their presents.

John took a deep breath, prepared to look into their cute little (uncanny, fae-like) faces and tell them to go back to bed.

And then he heard footsteps in the hall.

 _You better watch out_  
_You better not cry_  
_You better not shout_  
_I’m telling you_  
_Santa Claus is coming to town..._

John was on his feet, reaching for his pistol. Something about that voice was familiar. Male. Not quite on key.

He reached for the doorknob and felt it turn under his hand.

He froze.

And then he heard a giggle and a whisper, “Shut up! You’ll wake up the kids!”

“If they wake, they’ll hear Christmas carols and think we’re Santa’s elves.”

Two people.

“You really think John, a trained combat soldier, slept through that?”

Three people.

John slid back, and the door eased open.

He said, “Freeze.”

Dean whispered, “Easy, Major.”

John lowered his gun, stared. “Dean?”

“C’mon.” Dean beckoned.

Evan, Sam, and Miko were arrayed in the hallway behind him.

“We have to get Rodney,” Dean said.

John blinked. “What?”

“With all due respect, sir.” Sam reached out, snagged John’s wrist, and tugged him out of the room. They hustled him down the hall to -

A portal. An actual portal. It was gaping and black, like someone had ripped a hole in the fabric of reality, but pulsing with a gentle blue glow at the edges. John hesitated, but Miko, Evan, and Dean stepped into it without hesitation.

John paused.

“Don’t worry, Evan made it.” Sam released John’s wrist and stepped into the portal.

John took a deep breath and followed.

And emerged on the second-floor landing of a house he’d never seen before.

“You take point,” Evan said.

“Where are we?” John hissed.

Evan nudged John toward the first door on the left. “Rodney’s niece's house.”

“ _What?_ ”

“We only have a few hours,” Miko said.

John took a deep breath, reached out, and eased open the door.

Rodney was sprawled across the bed, limbs akimbo, snoring faintly.

John crossed Rodney’s room and knelt beside the bed. He reached out, shook Rodney’s shoulder. “Hey, wake up.”

Rodney stirred briefly but didn’t wake.

John shook him harder. “Rodney, wake up!”

Rodney’s eyes fluttered open, and when he saw John, he smiled sleepily. “Hey.”

John couldn’t help but smile in return. “Hey, yourself. C’mon, get up.”

“What is it?”

John improvised. “We’re on a midnight mission.”

“Okay.” Rodney pouted adorably. “Midnight mission. Fine. Kiss first. Then mission.”

John glanced over his shoulder at the others. Dean looked amused. Sam looked uncomfortable. Miko looked unimpressed. Evan looked - fond.

“Okay, fine, you extortionist.” John leaned in and kissed Rodney on the mouth.

Rodney surged to life, slipping one hand up John’s shirt, the other down his pajama pants.

Sam squeaked.

John broke the kiss. “Easy there, Handsy McHorny. We’re not alone.”

Rodney leered at him. “Always knew you’d have an exhibitionist streak. Let’s give ‘em a show.”

Sam squeaked louder, and then Rodney blinked.

Blinked again.

“John?”

“Yes, Rodney.”

“I - I thought I was dreaming.” Rodney patted John’s chest and shoulder and face. “You’re real.”

“Yes, Rodney.”

“What are you doing here?”

“Like I said, midnight mission.” John rose up. “ Let’s go.”

Rodney sat up, craned his neck. “Lorne? Miko? _Both_ Winchesters? What’s going on?”

“C’mon,” Evan said. “We don’t have a lot of time.”

John laced his fingers through Rodney’s, and together they stole back to the landing where the portal was waiting.

“Magic?” Rodney hissed. “In a civilian household? Are you insane?”

“It’s fine, no one will notice,” Evan said.

Rodney narrowed his eyes. “Did you portal to everyone’s houses?”

“Maybe,” Evan said, tone innocent.

Rodney opened his mouth, but Evan said quickly, “No soul magic, promise!”

Rodney eyed Dean. “Really?”

Dean nodded. “Really.”

“Just go through the portal already,” Miko said.

John stepped forward first, drawing Rodney along behind him.

They emerged in the atrium of The Bunker. They’d decorated for Christmas, a mish-mash of decorations from various cultures and eras, but there was the traditional tree, covered in lights and tinsel and little hand-made ornaments. There were presents under the tree, too, and seven stockings hung on the wall behind it.

“I’ll go get started on the hot cocoa,” Evan said. “The rest of you, go wake Vala.”

Of course. Vala. They were having Christmas with Vala after all. Miko led the way, down the residential hall to Vala’s room. For all that Sam, Dean, and John were the trained soldiers in the group, Miko and Rodney moved with considerable stealth.

Dean opened Vala’s door soundlessly, with a flick of his wrist and a breathed syllable and what John was sure was magic. Had he been learning from Evan?

Vala in sleep looked like Snow White, all pale skin and dark, dark hair. She was lovely. She looked serene and untroubled, though John knew she suffered nightmares beyond anyone else’s comprehension after centuries as Qetesh’s host.

John glanced at Rodney, who shook his head. John glanced at Dean and Sam, who shrugged.

Miko bounced onto the bed without hesitation.

“Vala, wake up! It’s Christmas!”

Vala came awake like a soldier, wide-eyed and reaching for her pistol, but then she saw Miko, who was wearing Hello Kitty pajamas and looked all of ten years old behind her glasses, and she blinked.

“Miko, what are you doing here?”

“Not just me!” Miko beamed and pointed at John and the rest. “Everyone’s here to celebrate Christmas with you!”

“But - your families -” Vala stammered.

“You’re our family too,” Miko said, hugging her.

Vala hugged her back tightly, eyes squeezed shut for just a moment.

“Come on,” Sam said. “Evan’s making hot cocoa.”

Vala slid out of her bed and helped Miko to her feet, and together the six of them headed back to the atrium.

They arrived just as Evan emerged from the kitchen with a tray of hot cocoa and chocolate chip cookies.

“Before we get started,” Vala said, “there’s something I’ve always wanted to do for Christmas. It’s traditional, in the Northern countries, up in Finland.”

Evan, who’d set down the tray, paused. “I’ll go get some -”

“I already have candles.” Vala rooted around behind the presents and came up with a box of little candles. “In Finland, it’s traditional to light candles at the graves of loved ones who’ve passed on.”

John’s throat closed. Rodney squeezed his hand.

“I think this time of year, when we’re doing our best to be kind and find presents and have holiday spirit and also look forward to the new year, is a good time to remember those we’ve loved and lost,” Vala said. She opened the box and drew out a candle. She held it out on her palm. “This time last year I was home with Cameron Mitchell, who welcomed me into his life and his heart from day one. He taught me to love his grandmother’s macaroons and the wise things she said and how to pretend I was from England, and he was kind.”

Miko reached out, slid her hand beneath Vala’s. “Cam Mitchell was funny and warm. He always had one of his grandma’s quotes for the right occasion, and he always had my back.”

Dean reached out with one hand, helping Miko and Vala support the candle as well. “Major Mitchell was all right, for a Flyboy. He was a solid fighter, and smart with the lore. And he made the best beanie hats.”

Sam reached out. “Cam and I were Sam’n’Cam, the Wonder Twins. We read together, and we ran together, and he showed me the things I needed to know to be a good Air Force officer. He was one of my best friends.”

Rodney untangled his fingers from John’s and reached out. “Major Mitchell was a fine soldier and a fine hunter and a brave man. He gave his life in the line of duty. It was an honor to serve with him.”

Evan stretched out his hand, passed it over the candle, and the candle lit. “Cameron Mitchell was a brave soul, a kind heart, and a strong hand. He was the best of humor and warmth and the worst of impetuousness and stubbornness. He was a good man.” And he cupped his hand beneath Rodney’s.

“Merry Christmas, Cameron Mitchell,” Vala said softly. Together, the six of them levered the candle up onto the table.

Sam and Dean lit a candle for their cousin Christian. Miko lit a candle for her grandmother. Rodney had no one for whom he wished to light a candle.

When it was John’s turn, he scooped a candle out of the box and held it flat on his palm. “Lyle Holland was a fine officer, pilot, and friend. He was brave. He was loyal. He made me laugh even when I was miserable. I - I loved him like a brother. And if not for him and his teaching me to never leave a man behind, I wouldn’t be here with you. So - Merry Christmas, Holls.”

Rodney squeezed John’s hand, and together they set the candle on the table with the rest.

“Now,” Vala said, “before we open presents, there’s another thing we need to do.”

Evan laughed wetly. “I don’t know if I -”

Vala scooped up a box full of what looked like giant wrapped candies. “Christmas Crackers! Cameron’s family never did them, but he and Daniel told me all about them. They’re very British, and we have to do them.”

“Those don’t look like crackers,” Dean said slowly.

“Not like saltine crackers, like firecrackers.” Vala tore into the package and handed around the crackers around. They were brightly wrapped, in foil reds and blues and golds and greens. Vala instructed them to stand in a circle, everyone holding one end of a cracker, and on the count of three, pull.

The crackers exploded with sharp popping sounds, debris flying everywhere. Vala and Miko cheered and immediately scooped up the contents of the crackers.

“Everyone should have a paper crown.” Vala unfolded hers and settled it on her head. It was bright purple and looked good on her.

Miko pulled her crown on as well. Sam and Evan put theirs on, and Dean, after eyeing Evan for a moment, put his on. John had to hunt before he found a paper crown. It was delicate, made of tissue paper. He unfolded it, then reached out and settled it on Rodney’s head.

“Hey,” Rodney protested, but John smiled at him.

“Looks good on you. Good color. Makes your eyes bluer. Right, Evan?”

Evan glanced over. “Yes, it does.”

Rodney eyed John uncertainly for a moment, then shrugged. “Okay.”

John put on his own paper crown. “What next?”

“The jokes, of course,” Vala said.

Dean looked confused. “What jokes?”

But Miko rooted around among the Christmas cracker debris and unfolded what looked like a fortune cookie fortune. She read aloud: “There were two muffins in an oven. One muffin turned to the other and said, ‘It sure is hot in here.’ And the other muffin said, ‘Holy moly, a talking muffin!’”

John stared at her, baffled, but Vala and Evan immediately burst out laughing,

“That’s not even funny,” Dean said. He cleared his throat. “This is funny. Why is a lost dalmatian easily found?”

Sam’s eyes lit up. “Because he’s always spotted!”

Rodney snorted. “Really?”

John rested his chin on Rodney’s shoulder, peering. “What have you got?”

Rodney unfolded his joke, scanned it, and rolled his eyes.

“Tell us, tell us.” Vala clapped her hands, delighted.

“Why do hamburgers head south for the winter?”

Vala raised her hand. “I know this one!”

“Yes, Vala?” Rodney asked with surprising patience.

“So they don’t freeze their buns!” Vala prodded Sam. “What have you got?”

They shared all their corny jokes, and then Vala instructed them to all sit down beside the tree.

“Now, as I understand it,” she said, “it’s a very high honor to be the person who distributes the presents. So, without further ado -” She reached out and rooted under the tree. “John, this is for you.”

The box was small and exquisitely wrapped. At first guess, John would have thought it was from Evan, but Miko was also so skilled at origami that she would have been equally capable of such gift wrapping. He checked the card, and it was from Miko.

He unwrapped it carefully, hesitant to destroy the painstaking work.

Dean said, “Rip the paper already.”

Evan hushed him with a kiss.

The box beneath the paper was pale cardboard, anonymous. John opened it and stared. Inside was -

“What is it?”

“It’s a smart watch,” Miko said. “Top of the line. Integrates with your phone, tells time, measures your steps and heart rate and sleep -”

“You’re lo-jacking us?” Dean asked.

“For how often you people are kidnapped, it’s an excellent idea,” Rodney said. “It’s a very thoughtful gift, Miko. Put it on, John.”

“You’re just saying that because the one who got kidnapped last was me,” John said lightly, but Rodney nodded solemnly.

“Yes. I don’t want you kidnapped again.”

John lifted the watch out of the box and handed it to Rodney, held his wrist out. Rodney fastened it on, and when John rotated his wrist, the little round screen lit up.

_Hello, John._

Miko beamed. “I customized it just for you.”

Vala reached under the tree for the next gift, to Rodney, from Sam. It was a copy of _A Shropshire Lad_. Rodney unwrapped it reverently, smoothed a hand over the cover.

“I’ve been meaning to get this for a while,” he said.

Sam nodded. “I saw you looking at it when we were at Powell’s earlier this year. And I -” He darted a glance at John that John couldn’t read.

Miko peered at the book. “Poetry, Rodney? I didn’t think you were the type.”

Rodney flipped through the pages and murmured, “ _Smart lad, to slip betimes away / From fields where glory does not stay_.” He smiled at Sam. “Thank you.”

The next gift was from Dean to Miko, a rare CD from a Japanese punk band that he’d found by trawling through anime stores in Little Tokyo for hours on end. She cheered and hugged him after she unwrapped it. Evan’s gift to Sam was an additional dog tag engraved with useful protective symbols and sigils. John’s give to Vala was a subscription to an MMO RPG she’d been fascinated with and that she’d begged everyone to join so they could have their own raiding party on long bus rides. Vala’s gift to Dean was a leather jacket that Dean stared at for a long time.

“Is this -?”

“I believe it is,” Sam said quietly, awed.

“What is it?” Evan asked.

Dean swallowed hard. “Dad’s leather jacket. I used to wear it, but it went missing during a pretty disastrous hunt years ago. I thought - how did you -?”

“Trade secrets.” Vala smiled enigmatically.

Rodney’s gift to Evan was a boxed set of the DVDs for Season Six of _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ , which was one of Evan’s guilty pleasures.

“Do you know what this means?” Evan asked Dean earnestly.

“No.” Dean’s expression was wary.

“This means Buffy the Musical,” Evan said.

Dean sighed. “It’s a good thing you’re so cute.” He pressed a kiss to Evan’s cheek, and Evan beamed.

Vala continued handing out gifts - smart watches all around from Miko, books all around from Sam, DVDs all around from Rodney, music all around from Dean, clothes all around from Vala, protective jewelry all around from Evan, and MMO RPG subscriptions for everyone from John so they could be their own raiding party.

Together they cleaned up the wrapping paper and sat beside the tree in the dimness, sipping their hot cocoa, watching the blinking lights and the flickering candles, and talking softly among themselves.

It was Sam who led them in a couple of Christmas carols, and Miko who started them in on Baby It’s Cold Outside, and finally, Evan said,

“It’s time. My niece and nephew are going to kick down my door any second, and I need to be behind it.”

“My niece is civilized,” Rodney said proudly.

Dean kissed Evan gently on the mouth, then pulled back and nudged Sam. “We’d better get back, too, before Arlene figures out what happened.”

Sam nodded, but he reached out and pulled Vala into a hug. “Merry Christmas, Vala.”

“Thank you, Sam.” She hugged him back.

There were hugs and holiday greetings, and then Evan fired up a portal. He sent Sam and Dean through first, then Rodney, then John, saving himself and Miko for last since they were going to about the same place and the adjustment between portal jumps would be minor for them.

John kissed Rodney goodbye, promised to see him soon, and then waited while Evan cast the spell to adjust the portal. He bade his teammates farewell, and then he was back in his room.

He’d just crawled back into bed when the door burst open and Anna launched herself onto the mattress with a joyful cry of,

“Uncle John, Merry Christmas!”

Clara remained in the doorway, the more reserved - and the more elf-like - of the two girls.

“Wake up, Uncle John. If you’re awake, Mommy and Daddy will wake up, and then we can open presents,” Clara said.

John sat up. “Merry Christmas, girls.”

“We heard Santa’s elves singing last night,” Anna said as she led John down to the family room where the tree was set up.

“Oh yeah? What were they singing?”

Clara and Anna began to sing together,

 _You better watch out_  
_You better not cry_  
_You better not shout_  
_I’m telling you_  
_Santa Claus is coming to town..._


End file.
